LINES/ANGLES
Large Ensemble: orchestra
LINES/ANGLES was composed between August and November 2001. The title is reflected both in the surface materials and at the structural level. The materials consist of sustained notes or chords (“lines”) and disjunct melodic gestures (“angles”). The linear sections unfold through shifting timbre, texture, and harmonic density; the angular sections are propelled by rhythm and counterpoint. Initially, the lines and angles are kept separate, but over the course of the piece they are juxtaposed and finally integrated: the angles stretched into lines and the lines reassembled into angles. Structurally, this dichotomy is reified through formal stasis (“lines”) and disjuncture (“angles”).
The final third of the piece was composed in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States; indeed, the brutal brass passage was sketched on the very day. I dedicate LINES/ANGLES to the victims of terrorism and of the “War on Terror”.
LINES/ANGLES was commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed on February 9, 2002, under the baton of Gary Kulesha.